I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where 
the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong 
so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said 
it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the 
prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but 
a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can 
I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the 
wall?

Thanks
-- 
John

John wrote:
> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where 
> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong 
> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said 
> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the 
> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but 
> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can 
> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the 
> wall?
> 
> Thanks

It's certainly a problem on SW facing walls in this area, but IME the 
clear seals aren't very effective.
Are the bricks rendered/painted?

On Jun 26, 12:00 pm, John <j...@ku.oc.evreseerf.nafah.reverse> wrote:

> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where
> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong
> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said
> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the
> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but
> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can
> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the
> wall?
>
> Thanks

Nearly every victorian house is built with porous bricke, yet most
dont have a damp problem, and painting the ones that do with sealant
only makes any damp worse. So I doubt both the diagnosis and the
proposed solution.


NT

John wrote:
> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house
> where the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see
> anything wrong so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be
> expensive but he said it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall
> is battered by the prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks
> through. Not much but a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round
> here. Is this likely? Can I really just fix the problem by painting
> that weatherseal stuff on the wall?

Liquid Plastics K501 is not cheap but is brilliant for this:

http://www.liquidplastics.co.uk/product.asp?id=163

John

meow2222@care2.com wrote:
> On Jun 26, 12:00 pm, John <j...@ku.oc.evreseerf.nafah.reverse> wrote:
> 
>> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where
>> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong
>> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said
>> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the
>> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but
>> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can
>> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the
>> wall?
>>
>> Thanks
> 
> Nearly every victorian house is built with porous bricke, yet most
> dont have a damp problem, and painting the ones that do with sealant
> only makes any damp worse. So I doubt both the diagnosis and the
> proposed solution.

Ah, but.. it may well be true in our house. Thinking about it there was 
a small damp spot in the area where the kitchen and dining room join in 
the corner roughly where the damp spot is now. I hacked off the plaster 
and replastered it shortly after moving in and it seemed okay. However 
it may be that the damp is coming in through the cavity wall and is now 
being stopped at the extension and coming in through the ceiling. I 
could easily be talking b*ll*cks here though.

For the cost of "painting" the outside wall with waterproof solution and 
seeing if the problem goes away it may be worth a go.

The builder did tell me the flashing was very well done and if he wanted 
to make money out of me he cuold easily have recommended replacing it. 
This makes me (rightly or wrongly) want to trust him.
-- 
John

stuart noble wrote:
> John wrote:
>> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house 
>> where the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see 
>> anything wrong so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be 
>> expensive but he said it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall 
>> is battered by the prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks 
>> through. Not much but a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round 
>> here. Is this likely? Can I really just fix the problem by painting 
>> that weatherseal stuff on the wall?
>>
>> Thanks
> 
> It's certainly a problem on SW facing walls in this area, but IME the 
> clear seals aren't very effective.
> Are the bricks rendered/painted?

No rendering or painting. I don't particularly want to paint the bricks 
with coloured paint. I like bricks. I wouldn't want to render either 
unless I really have to.
-- 
John

John wrote:
> meow2222@care2.com wrote:
<>
>> Nearly every victorian house is built with porous bricke, yet most
>> dont have a damp problem, and painting the ones that do with sealant
>> only makes any damp worse. So I doubt both the diagnosis and the
>> proposed solution.
> 
> Ah, but.. it may well be true in our house. Thinking about it there was 
> a small damp spot in the area where the kitchen and dining room join in 
> the corner roughly where the damp spot is now. I hacked off the plaster 
> and replastered it shortly after moving in and it seemed okay. However 
> it may be that the damp is coming in through the cavity wall and is now 
> being stopped at the extension and coming in through the ceiling. I 
> could easily be talking b*ll*cks here though.
> 
> For the cost of "painting" the outside wall with waterproof solution and 
> seeing if the problem goes away it may be worth a go.
> 
But the real cost isn't the painting with waterproof solution - that is 
just a few pounds for the stuff. It's what you might have do if it 
either doesn't work or, far more significantly, it makes things worse. I 
doubt you can remove this stuff without the bricks. :-)

Perhaps try something like a sheet of plastic to protect that area of 
wall on a temporary basis to see if it helps?

-- 
Rod

Hypothyroidism is a seriously debilitating condition with an insidious 
onset.
Although common it frequently goes undiagnosed.
<www.thyromind.info> <www.thyroiduk.org> <www.altsupportthyroid.org>

"Rod"  wrote in message 
news:6chht8F3fqlknU1@mid.individual.net...
> John wrote:
>> meow2222@care2.com wrote:
> <>
>>> Nearly every victorian house is built with porous bricke, yet most
>>> dont have a damp problem, and painting the ones that do with sealant
>>> only makes any damp worse. So I doubt both the diagnosis and the
>>> proposed solution.
>>
>> Ah, but.. it may well be true in our house. Thinking about it there was a 
>> small damp spot in the area where the kitchen and dining room join in the 
>> corner roughly where the damp spot is now. I hacked off the plaster and 
>> replastered it shortly after moving in and it seemed okay. However it may 
>> be that the damp is coming in through the cavity wall and is now being 
>> stopped at the extension and coming in through the ceiling. I could 
>> easily be talking b*ll*cks here though.
>>
>> For the cost of "painting" the outside wall with waterproof solution and 
>> seeing if the problem goes away it may be worth a go.
>>
> But the real cost isn't the painting with waterproof solution - that is 
> just a few pounds for the stuff. It's what you might have do if it either 
> doesn't work or, far more significantly, it makes things worse. I doubt 
> you can remove this stuff without the bricks. :-)
>
> Perhaps try something like a sheet of plastic to protect that area of wall 
> on a temporary basis to see if it helps?
>

Wise words. It will do exactly what the sealant will do (including any 
problems it may cause) but isn't permanent.

I always feel bricks are bricks and always have been and there's no need to 
go painting them. (Ditto plumbing compression fittings - they weren't 
designed for and shouldn't need anything else - maybe that's just me :o) ).


-- 
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)

> I always feel bricks are bricks and always have been and there's no need to 
> go painting them. 

Absolutely, but often someone has already done that in a vain attempt to 
  cure dampness. In that case your options are limited.

If it were caused by driving rain then the damp would appear only
during a wet and windy spell and quickly dry out again. I had this
problem on our west facing wall which is solid and fixed it by re-
pointing and using the waterproofing stuff. I don't know how much each
contributed to fixing the problem.
What's the pointing like?

John wrote:
> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where 
> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong 
> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said 
> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the 
> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but 
> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can 
> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the 
> wall?
> 
> Thanks
Its certainly possible but surely the wall has a cavity?

meow2222@care2.com wrote:
> On Jun 26, 12:00 pm, John <j...@ku.oc.evreseerf.nafah.reverse> wrote:
> 
>> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where
>> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong
>> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said
>> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the
>> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but
>> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can
>> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the
>> wall?
>>
>> Thanks
> 
> Nearly every victorian house is built with porous bricke, yet most
> dont have a damp problem, 

nearly ALL have a damp problem.

On Jun 26, 12:00 pm, John <j...@ku.oc.evreseerf.nafah.reverse> wrote:
> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where
> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong
> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said
> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the
> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but
> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can
> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the
> wall?
>
> Thanks
> --
> John

Hi,

Could also be something like missing/defective 'cavity trays'

Try spraying the wall with a hose on a windy but dry day to see if the
problem reoccurs or not.

cheers,
Pete.

No damp means the problem is elsewhere.

On Jun 26, 1:40 pm, John <j...@ku.oc.evreseerf.nafah.reverse> wrote:
> meow2...@care2.com wrote:
> > On Jun 26, 12:00 pm, John <j...@ku.oc.evreseerf.nafah.reverse> wrote:

> >> I wrote a while ago about problems with damp coming into the house where
> >> the new extension is. I've had a good look and can't see anything wrong
> >> so I got a builder in. I thought he's going to be expensive but he said
> >> it's basically down to porous bricks. The wall is battered by the
> >> prevailing south-westerly and the rain just soaks through. Not much but
> >> a little. He's seen it in lots of houses round here. Is this likely? Can
> >> I really just fix the problem by painting that weatherseal stuff on the
> >> wall?
>
> >> Thanks
>
> > Nearly every victorian house is built with porous bricke, yet most
> > dont have a damp problem, and painting the ones that do with sealant
> > only makes any damp worse. So I doubt both the diagnosis and the
> > proposed solution.
>
> Ah, but.. it may well be true in our house. Thinking about it there was
> a small damp spot in the area where the kitchen and dining room join in
> the corner roughly where the damp spot is now. I hacked off the plaster
> and replastered it shortly after moving in and it seemed okay. However
> it may be that the damp is coming in through the cavity wall and is now
> being stopped at the extension and coming in through the ceiling. I
> could easily be talking b*ll*cks here though.
>
> For the cost of "painting" the outside wall with waterproof solution and
> seeing if the problem goes away it may be worth a go.

Sure, if you dont mind it making things worse. This is one of those
very few topics where expertise is lacking here, I suggest you ask
people that understand the principles in action and deal with this
routinely.
http://periodpropertyshop.co.uk/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=1


> The builder did tell me the flashing was very well done and if he wanted
> to make money out of me he cuold easily have recommended replacing it.
> This makes me (rightly or wrongly) want to trust him.

... a salesmans dream


NT